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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24389629">wow (the wlw remix)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/the24thkey/pseuds/the24thkey%20writes'>the24thkey writes (the24thkey)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>lezgeddit verse [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Stray Kids (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Always a Different Sex, Alternate Universe - Non-Famous, Disaster Lesbians: The Next Generation, F/F, Miscommunication, background jaebri, disasteRACHA, no research we die like men</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 06:49:25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>14,391</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24389629</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/the24thkey/pseuds/the24thkey%20writes</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"Wait, wait, hold up," Hyunjin says, squinting at her. "Which one's Mina again?" </p>
<p>"Ugh, you don't get it," Jisung says, annoyed. How many times is she going to have to explain this to him, god. "There's two Minas. Ballerina Mina, who I'm sure is a lovely person who has never done anything wrong in her entire life, and Evil Sexy Dance Mina, the bane of my existence."</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Han Jisung | Han/Lee Minho | Lee Know</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>lezgeddit verse [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1131944</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>140</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>wow (the wlw remix)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Remember how I said I was probably done with this ‘verse after posting <em>the things I’ve almost told you</em>? Yeah, that was a lie. What can I say, I’m just really weak for minsung. This is very much a stand-alone, but there are some cameos from earlier parts of the series.</p>
<p>Please note: Jisung calls Chan and Changbin hyung in this story (somewhat inspired by <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrwYYZSx-u4&amp;feature=emb_logo">this clip</a> of Sejeong on Busted) because she’d rather die than call them oppa. Please also note that I know nothing about the music industry. Suspension of disbelief is a beautiful thing etc. etc.</p>
<p>As for the title, I have nothing to say in my defense. It was supposed to be the working title only, but then I got attached to it, so here we are.</p>
<p>All my thanks go out to Julija, who held my hand through various crises, and to my beta reader idella. Thank you guys so, so much, seriously. &lt;3</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The envelope sits on the table in front of her, plain and unassuming, but Jisung stares at it like it's going to attack her any moment now. Next to her, Jae is eyeing it as well, with an expression that Jisung would recognize as mock-serious if she wasn't so preoccupied.</p>
<p>"Alright, kiddo," Jae says, steepling her fingers in front of her face. "You gonna open it or what."</p>
<p>All Jisung can get out in response to that is a kind of strangled, wordless keening noise, which probably does a pretty good job of answering for her.</p>
<p>"Are you dying?" Brianna yells from the other room, because she got bored with the waiting and decided to go do the dishes instead. "If you die Auntie isn't going to invite me for dinner anymore."</p>
<p>"This is a very stressful moment for me!" Jisung screeches back. "Potentially life-changing! Monumental!"</p>
<p>Jae pats her on the back consolingly. "There, there," she says. "Just open it. Or I'll do it for you."</p>
<p>"No!" Jisung grabs it and clutches it to her chest protectively. "As long as I don't open it there's still a chance that it could be an acceptance letter."</p>
<p>"What is this, Schrödinger's internship?" Brianna asks in exasperation, coming back to join them. "The content isn't actually going to change, no matter how long you stare at it. Get it over with."</p>
<p>Jisung glares at her traitor of a cousin, with her stupid logic and her stupid grown-up attitude. She doesn't even know why she ran over here the second she got the letter in the mail.</p>
<p>Brianna just doesn't get it. She already got her foot into the door of the music industry, has a full-time job, an apartment, and a (kinda weird but honestly pretty hot) girlfriend. She's made it.</p>
<p>In comparison, all Jisung has are a half-finished, potentially useless music degree, a record of noise complaints from her dorm neighbours, and a cheap vibrator.</p>
<p>(The last two are not related. Jisung just has an unfortunate habit of rapping freestyle at 3 in the morning. She's working on it.)</p>
<p>"Jisung-ah," Brianna says, but Jisung cuts her off before she can go on.</p>
<p>"Ugh, fine, I'll do it."</p>
<p>Her mind made up at last, she rips open the envelope, almost tearing up the letter inside. Her fingers shake as she unfolds it, eyes frantically scanning the text and barely taking any of it in before she sees the words she has been anxiously awaiting for 3 months. Then, she lets out a scream of pure joy so loud that it has Jae almost falling out of her chair with how hard she flinches back.</p>
<p>"I'm in, I'm in, I'm in!" Jisung chants, jumping out of her seat and tackling Brianna in a hug. "I got the internship! Oh my god!"</p>
<p>Brianna laughs, easily lifting Jisung off the ground and swinging her around. Usually Jisung would complain, but right now she couldn't care less.</p>
<p>"Thank you so much, unnie," she almost cries, the sense of relief and happiness overwhelming. Even as she sent in her application she had been convinced she'd never make it - getting into one of the biggest entertainment agencies out there was a long shot, and they only offer a handful of placements every year.</p>
<p>"No need to thank me," Brianna says, and she looks so proud that Jisung has to hug her even harder. "All I did was pass on your forms."</p>
<p>"Ah, nepotism," Jae drawls out even as she gets up to join them, throwing her arms around both of them and squeezing until Jisung squirms and starts complaining to be let go.</p>
<p>"I had zero influence on the decision," Brianna says easily, flicking Jae's forehead. "PD-nim has final say on who gets hired, and he has notoriously high standards. This is all due to Sungie's hard work and talent.”</p>
<p>Jisung preens, relishing the praise, and then sticks out her tongue at Jae when Brianna isn't looking. Jae rolls her eyes, but it's overshadowed by her fond smile.</p>
<p>"Besides," Brianna goes on, "We don't even have the same family name. No one can tell we're related."</p>
<p>"Objection!" Jae says, drawing it out obnoxiously. "Literally anyone with eyes can tell you're related. She's like a mini-BriBri."</p>
<p>Jae ruffles Jisung's hair with a shit-eating grin and Jisung squawks in protest, batting her hands away. (Admittedly, she did kinda copy Brianna's hair style because it looked cool, but there's really no need for Jae to point it out like that.)</p>
<p>She and Jae engage in a minor slap fight until Brianna pushes them apart with a pointed look at Jisung.</p>
<p>"I'm really happy for you, but aren't there other people you should be calling right now?"</p>
<p>Jisung blanches. "Oh shit."</p>
<p>She rushes over to where she abandoned her phone earlier, unlocking it and grimacing at the dozens of kakaotalk notifications she's been ignoring since this morning, as well as 3 missed calls from Chan. Obviously all the other applicants also got their letters today, but she hadn't had the nerve to find out anyone's results before her own.</p>
<p>They all submitted a bunch of their group work along with their solo songs, but what if she's the only one that got in and her friends resent her forever and 3RACHA breaks up and she loses all her inspiration as a result of withdrawal from Chan's comforting hugs and Changbin's aegyo?</p>
<p>Alright, maybe she wouldn't miss the aegyo.</p>
<p>Jisung grits her teeth and hits Changbin's number, hoping to avoid Chan's patented and strangely parental brand of gentle disappointment for a moment longer.</p>
<p>Changbin answers within seconds, sounding more animated than she's ever heard him.</p>
<p>"Where the hell have you been?" he yells into the phone without even saying hello, and in the background Jisung can hear Chan's voice saying, "Is that Jisung? Sungie! Sungie, hi! Put her on speaker, come on."</p>
<p>"Heeeey guys," Jisung says nervously, wide eyes flickering between an unhelpful Brianna, who makes encouraging hand motions, and an even more unhelpful Jae, who mimes eating popcorn.</p>
<p>"Did you get your letter?" Chan asks, and he doesn't sound upset, but also he wouldn't necessarily let it show even if he was upset, so that's not helpful at all.</p>
<p>"Y-yeah, I did."</p>
<p>"So?" Changbin demands, and Jisung gulps and braces herself.</p>
<p>"I got in?" she says, voice going up at the end like she's asking a question.</p>
<p>There's a terrifying moment of silence, and then deafening screams erupt from the other end of the line, making her jump.</p>
<p>"Hell yeah!" Changbin says, nearly drowned out by Chan's, "J.One let's get it!" and then, "3RACHA, baby!"</p>
<p>Jisung gasps, already bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet in excitement. "Does that mean—"</p>
<p>"We made it!" Chan says, sounding as overwhelmingly happy as Jisung feels, and after that the three of them are just screaming all over each other, because they made it, they really did. It may just be an internship, but for them, for 3RACHA, it's the start of something big.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>---</p>
<p>jaejae: dude what's a defsoul</p>
<p>jaejae: and why is your baby cuz all up in my mentions screaming about it</p>
<p> </p>
<p>bribri: huh</p>
<p>bribri: that's JB's producer name</p>
<p>bribri: why is she screaming?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>jaejae: aight</p>
<p>jaejae: weird</p>
<p>jaejae: she's being all</p>
<p>jaejae: I can't believe u never told me u know defsoul I'm disowning u!!!!!!</p>
<p> </p>
<p>bribri: lol what</p>
<p> </p>
<p>jaejae: I know right</p>
<p>jaejae: pretty sure that's not how inheritance law works</p>
<p>jaejae: it's not like we're even officially related yet</p>
<p> </p>
<p>bribri:........</p>
<p> </p>
<p>jaejae: wait no fuckkldh</p>
<p> </p>
<p>bribri: yet?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>jaejae: oh man would you look at the time gotta go love you bye</p>
<p> </p>
<p>bribri: ???</p>
<p>bribri: love you too??</p>
<p>---</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>3 months later, Jisung is one week into her production internship and just about ready to die.</p>
<p>"Ugh," she groans, letting her head drop onto the table and only narrowly avoiding her tray. They're in the company cafeteria, long after the lunch rush, so it's only the three of them and a gaggle of trainees way over at the other side of the room. "This fucking sucks."</p>
<p>"Hey now," Chan says, patting her shoulder. "It's only day five. You're not gonna give up so easily, are you?"</p>
<p>"I wanna make music, hyung," Jisung whines, "I don't care about all this other stuff."</p>
<p>They're production interns, but Jisung hasn't even gotten to so much as look at a mix board yet. Apparently they’re supposed to get to know the entire company first, all interns rotating through all departments no matter what they’ve actually been hired for. It’s a good concept in theory, she supposes, but she’s spent all day shadowing an employee in marketing who seems about as confused by Jisung’s presence as she herself is.</p>
<p>She sighs dramatically as she pushes herself back upright. "I just wanna work. My lyrical genius is being wasted here."</p>
<p>"Your lyrical genius?" Changbin repeats dryly, raising one eyebrow.</p>
<p>Chan fake-coughs into the crook of his elbow and stage whispers, "Excuse me unnie, do you have a boyfriend?"</p>
<p>Jisung whips her head around with a gasp of betrayal, trying and failing to clap her hand over Chan's mouth as he laughs at her.</p>
<p>"I can't believe you would bring that up," she says, her cheeks flushing in embarrassment.</p>
<p>Changbin snorts into his drink, so she shoots him a glare, too. "You don't have any room to talk, mister. Or do I have to remind you who wanted to write that song in the first place?"</p>
<p>Changbin just shrugs, unconcerned.</p>
<p>"Heteronormativity gets to the best of us," he says calmly, as if Jisung hasn't witnessed him almost die cringing when forced to listen to it. Meanwhile, Chan starts singing the chorus of Wow with way too much enthusiasm.</p>
<p>"God, stop it," Jisung hisses, hitting Chan's shoulder until he shuts up. "At least I didn't embarrass myself trying to pick up the love of my life with a song about a Hoodie."</p>
<p>Now it's Chan's turn to gasps and give her his best kicked puppy expression. "One, I thought we agreed to never speak of that again, and two, it totally worked!"</p>
<p>"You keep telling yourself that," Changbin says through a mouthful of kimbap, and Jisung gives him a fistbump while Chan attempts to slide under the table in agony, face buried in his hands.</p>
<p>She has to give it to Chan though — at least he has a boyfriend, even if it's still a mystery as to how. Meanwhile Jisung continues to be eternally single.</p>
<p>"I want a girlfriend," she sighs wistfully, and that makes Chan remove his hands from his face long enough to give her a flat look.</p>
<p>"Can't help you there, buddy."</p>
<p>Changbin snorts.</p>
<p>"I think you both just need to come to terms with the fact that I'm the only one with any game here," he says, a smug expression on his face. It lasts about as long as it takes Chan and Jisung to exchange a wordless look of disgust before they pick up their trays and stand up in unison, and then he's scrambling to finish his food and run after them.</p>
<p>"Guys? Guys, come on, wait for me!"</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>---</p>
<p>channie: babe</p>
<p>channie: please tell binnie and sungie that I totally swept you off your feet when we first met they're slandering me again</p>
<p>channie: babe</p>
<p>channie: babe???????</p>
<p> </p>
<p>jagi &lt;3:...</p>
<p>jagi &lt;3: read 15:54</p>
<p> </p>
<p>channie: BABE</p>
<p>---</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>The thing is, it's entirely Chan's fault. Most things are, in Jisung's opinion, regardless of whether he's actually involved or not. But no, in this case, Jisung's suffering can be traced right back to Chan's ability to make friends with absolutely anyone.</p>
<p>They've been here for less than a month and he's already greeting what feels like half the company by name, no matter if they're trainees, managers, producers, or cleaning staff. Jisung is pretty sure she heard the CEO call him 'Channie' the other day, but she's trying her absolute best not to think about that.</p>
<p>In any case, Jisung is entering week three and excited to finally get started on some actual production work, and they’re on their way out of the building to pick up coffee when Chan stops to greet two women coming their way.</p>
<p>"Oh, Mina-ssi and Mina-ssi," Chan says, laughing, and both of the women laugh, too.</p>
<p>Jisung doesn't even question it. Sure, it's kind of a coincidence to have two people with the same name working together, but also there were at least three other Jisungs in her grade in high school, so it's not like it's all that weird.</p>
<p>Though the two Minas also look a bit alike, really. Pretty, delicate features, dark, shoulder-length hair, and both have a mole on the side of their nose. Jisung gets a bit caught up staring at them, partly because she's wondering if human cloning is a thing now, but mostly just because she's really, really gay.</p>
<p>In any case, she doesn't register that the conversation has moved on until she hears her own name.</p>
<p>“And this is my friend and fellow intern, Jisung.”</p>
<p>Jisung jumps, turning wide eyes on Chan for a moment before she realizes he’s trying to introduce her.</p>
<p>“Oh! Yeah, hi, hello,” she says, tripping over her words a bit as she bows slightly. “I’m Han Jisung. Nice to meet you.”</p>
<p>“Nice to meet you,” one of the Minas echoes, the one wearing a soft pink tracksuit. The smile on her face is kind, and Jisung would feel very put at ease by it if the other Mina, the one wearing an oversized black shirt and a baseball cap, didn’t take that opportunity to laugh and say, “Cute,” in a vaguely condescending tone of voice.</p>
<p>Jisung turns to her almost involuntarily, startled when black-shirt-Mina meets her gaze head on, a glint in her eyes that makes it seem like she’s seizing Jisung up. When the corners of her mouth twitch up into a smirk, Jisung can’t help but feel like she’s been found wanting.</p>
<p>If there’s one thing Jisung hates, it’s people looking down on her. She draws herself up to her full, if not very tall, height, and is just about to ask this woman what her deal is when pink-tracksuit-Mina speaks up again.</p>
<p>“I should get going, I’m teaching a ballet class in 15 minutes,” she says, checking her watch. Jisung didn’t even know they made the trainees take ballet here, but without having seen her dance even once, she thinks that that particular style probably fits pink-tracksuit-Mina very well. Jisung can picture her in a tutu, doing pirouettes and plisés and other ballet terms that Jisung definitely knows the meaning of without having to look them up on naver.</p>
<p>“I’ll come with you,” the other Mina says. “See you around, Channie, Han Jisung-ssi.”</p>
<p>And then, just before turning to follow pink-tracksuit-Mina down the hallway, she winks at Jisung. She fucking <em>winks</em>. Who even does that?</p>
<p>There’s heat rising in Jisung’s face as she stares after them, thrown completely off-kilter by a 30 second interaction and not even sure why.</p>
<p>“Dude, you okay?” Chan asks, half concerned and half amused.</p>
<p>Jisung opens and closes her mouth a couple of times before she can form words again. “Who was that?”</p>
<p>“They’re two of the dance instructors,” Chan says, and yeah, there’s definitely no concern left in his voice now. “Weren’t you listening when I introduced you?”</p>
<p>“Shut up, you know I can’t deal with hot people,” Jisung hisses, and then she pushes him into the wall when he won’t stop laughing at her.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>In a just world, that would’ve been the end of it. Jisung has no real reason to go down to the practice rooms or interact with any of the training staff. She's supposed to be holed up in the studio, making ground-breaking music and learning from the very best producers this city, nay, this country, has to offer.</p>
<p>It's possible that Jisung had slightly unrealistic expectations of what being an intern actually entails.</p>
<p>She hasn't even gotten to meet Defsoul yet, Jisung thinks bitterly as she jogs through the building, sent to fetch a bunch of trainees who haven't shown up for recording, and apparently can't do anyone the courtesy of checking their phones, either.</p>
<p>It takes her a bit of asking around, but at long last she finds someone who tells her to check the practice rooms in the basement. Most of them appear to be unoccupied when Jisung presses her face against the glass doors, but when she approaches the last one down the hall, she can hear heavy bass thumping through the walls.</p>
<p>The music is familiar in her ears, something slow and sensual, but she can't quite make out the lyrics, and she really needs to get those trainees to their recording session, so she cautiously opens the door and slips into the room.</p>
<p>She's ready to call out an excuse when she stops in her tracks, transfixed by the sight in front of her. There's a number of people dancing facing the mirror wall, but all of them pale in comparison to the woman at the very front.</p>
<p>Jisung recognizes her from the other day — one of the Minas, but not the ballerina one. Chan had introduced both of them as dance instructors, so maybe it should have been obvious that she'd be an amazing dancer, but it still takes Jisung's breath away.</p>
<p>She knows people who dance, people who are very good at it, too, and she's always been fascinated by how precisely they can control the smallest of movements. Mina is on an entirely different level, however, making it look smooth and effortless, hitting every beat as easy as breathing. The edges of her smile are sharp beneath the baseball hat that's pulled low over her face, and that alone would be enough to send Jisung's mind reeling, but then Mina starts in on the body rolls, and oh. Oh dear god. Jisung is doomed.</p>
<p>She feels a bit faint, and that's <em>before</em> Mina drops it to the floor. Jisung barely registers the laughter and cheers from the trainees over the beat of her own pulse, and she has to shake her head a bit, blinking furiously to snap herself out of it. Right. She came here for a reason.</p>
<p>The music fades out, and someone skips over to turn it off before the next song can come on as Mina pushes herself up from the floor, flushed from the exertion but smiling. “Alright, that’s it for today,” she calls out, and when the trainees echo their thanks and break off into smaller groups, Jisung takes her chance.</p>
<p>"Hi, sorry?" she says, raising her voice to be heard over the chattering, faltering only a bit when everyone turns to look at her. "Uh, Choi PD-nim sent me. We're missing some people for the recording session at studio 3."</p>
<p>Two of the girls look alarmed as they check the time, and then they grab their bags and run out of the room in a jumble of distressed noises, loud apologies and hasty good-byes to 'Dance Instructor Lee'. They almost end up knocking Jisung over as they rush past her, which is just rude. They’re already late, couldn’t they wait to walk back with her?</p>
<p>She stares after them in disbelief for a moment, and then she turns back to the room at large to excuse herself, only to freeze when she catches Mina’s eyes. The look on Mina’s face is openly curious, and she’s taken off her hat, leaving her hair dishevelled in a way that should look gross and sweaty but is instead unfairly handsome. Then her expression clears, and she grins and walks over to Jisung.</p>
<p>"Oh, it's you!" she says, and Jisung freezes like a deer caught in the headlights. "The girl with the cheeks!"</p>
<p>"I…what?" Jisung asks, bewildered. Her hands come up to her cheeks instinctively, hiding them from view.</p>
<p>“Channie’s friend, right? Han Jisung?” Mina says, and she looks pleased when Jisung nods.</p>
<p>“You remember,” Jisung says, too startled to hide her surprise, and Mina smirks. She sweeps her eyes up and down the entire length of Jisung’s body before she settles on staring her down with an expression that Jisung can’t quite place, and then she says, “As if I could forget a face like that.”</p>
<p>Jisung blinks, heat rising under her skin. She’s not entirely sure if she should be feeling offended or what, but before she can even muster up any indignation, Mina jerks her chin at the door. “Don’t you need to go with them?”</p>
<p>“Huh? Oh! Yeah,” she says, instantly distracted by the thought of how Choi-PD-nim is going to chew her out yet again. “Excuse the intrusion,” she says hurriedly, but Mina waves it off.</p>
<p>“Come by anytime,” she says, and then, to Jisung’s chagrin, she winks at her. <em>Again</em>.</p>
<p>Jisung doesn’t even know what to say to that, so she just turns on her heels without another word, her ears burning the entire walk up to the studio.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>She’s still thinking about it hours later, blanking out while she brushes her teeth in the dormitory's communal bathroom. She lets out a groan of frustration, too immersed in her own suffering to notice the startled looks the scattered few other occupants of the room are giving her.</p>
<p>Jisung doesn't usually get this flustered. She’s long since learned to cover her own awkwardness with quick thinking and jokes and a front of self-confidence that’s at least 50% real, on a good day. But something about that dance instructor just gets under her skin, no matter that they’ve barely even interacted for 5 minutes total. There’s just something about that glint in her eyes, that stupid smirk, like she’s waiting for Jisung to get in on a joke, and the smooth, graceful movements of her—</p>
<p>Jisung cuts that thought off by violently shaking her head, once again completely missing the way the girl closest to her jumps in alarm and edges away slowly.</p>
<p>Evil, Jisung decides. No matter how good she may look when she’s dancing, Mina is definitely evil.</p>
<p>She spits out the last of the toothpaste and rinses her mouth, splashing some cold water on her face for good measure, and then she gathers her things and shuffles out of the bathroom and down the hall, exhaustion dragging at her limbs.</p>
<p>This internship is taxing enough even without infuriatingly sexy dance instructors, but even as she turns off the light in her room and lets herself flop down onto her bed, her mind remains stuck on their encounter earlier that day, playing on loop.</p>
<p>Jisung bites her lip, tossing and turning for a couple of minutes to try and find a comfortable position to sleep in before she sits back up with a huff. Her first instinct is to grab her phone and text her friends, but something stops her with her finger hovering over the 3RACHA group chat. There’s really no reason to make a big deal out of this, is there?</p>
<p>She sighs, tossing her phone back onto her night-stand, and then she buries her face in her pillow, determined not to give Evil Sexy Dance Mina any more thought.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Any intentions of ignoring the situation are destroyed the very next day, when Jisung ends up taking her lunch break a good hour later than usual because of a meeting that ran late. Jisung is starving, so she pays absolutely no mind to her surroundings as she drops into an empty chair and gets ready to inhale her first bite of japchae, only to choke on it when someone chooses that exact moment to speak up behind her.</p>
<p>"Yah, Han Jisung!"</p>
<p>Jisung coughs violently, and it’s only after she’s downed half her glass of water and blinked tears out of her eyes that she can look up to see who just tried to murder her.</p>
<p>And of course. Of course it just has to be Evil Sexy Dance Mina, standing next to Jisung’s table and not even bothering to hide her amusement.</p>
<p>"Mina-ssi," Jisung says dumbly, too surprised to even be offended by the way Mina has apparently decided to just drop honorifics.</p>
<p>Jisung isn't sure why, but just then Mina's eyebrows draw together, and she looks at Jisung kind of strangely. Jisung waits it out, because it feels like Mina wants to say something, but in the end she just huffs out a laugh and shakes her head.</p>
<p>"Okay then," she says, which doesn't really make sense. Jisung frowns at her, confused.</p>
<p>"Okay what?" she asks, only to be ignored completely as Mina places her tray of food down on the table.</p>
<p>“You don’t mind if I join you, do you?” she asks, though it’s not really much of a question.</p>
<p>“Uh...sure, go ahead,” Jisung says, utterly lost. She glances around surreptitiously, but there's plenty of free tables around. Why would Mina choose to sit with her? They don't even know each other, beyond the most basic of introductions.</p>
<p>"Great," Mina says, undeterred by Jisung's confusion, and takes a seat.</p>
<p>Jisung watches as she rearranges the dishes to her liking before taking a bite and making a noise of appreciation. Only then does she seem to notice Jisung staring at her.</p>
<p>"Well?" she says, raising an eyebrow. "Enjoy your meal."</p>
<p>Jisung is pretty sure she's starting to develop a tic in her right eye, but all she can do is mutter, "You too," before slowly taking up her own chopsticks again. Her brain is still hung up on the way this virtual stranger is talking to her so informally. It's not that Jisung really minds, but it's kind of rude, isn't it?</p>
<p>But that aside, she's still really damn hungry, so she tries to ignore the weirdness and finally digs into her japchae. It’s delicious, and she’s been looking forward to it ever since she saw it on the menu that morning, but her enjoyment is somewhat impaired by the incredibly awkward silence that settles over their table.</p>
<p>Jisung isn’t good with silence. It makes her nervous and fidgety, and she’d really like to know why Evil Sexy Dance Mina had to sit here of all places if she isn’t even going to have the decency to make small talk. Should Jisung start a conversation? But what should she talk about? The weather? That should be a safe enough topic, right?</p>
<p>Just as she’s made up her mind to say something about the sudden heat wave that's taken over the city, a glance back up at Mina makes her pause.</p>
<p>There’s a flush to her cheeks, and her eyes look somewhat watery as she fans herself with one hand, but then she goes right back to shoving spicy cold noodles into her mouth. Jisung winces a bit, because she made the mistake of trying that dish on the very first day of her internship and couldn’t taste anything for the rest of the day. Whoever’s in charge of making the bibim sauce really doesn’t skimp on the chili paste.</p>
<p>It does give her an opportunity to break that silence, however. “You like spicy food?” she asks, nodding towards Mina’s tray when she looks up at the question.</p>
<p>“I do,” is the answer, immediately followed by a cheerful, “Can’t handle it at all, though.”</p>
<p>“Then...why are you eating it?” Jisung asks, bewildered.</p>
<p>Mina makes a small noise, as if pleased by the question.</p>
<p>“It’s good for you,” she says, waving her chopsticks around carelessly. “When your mouth hurts because of the spice it’s a kind of stress, right? But focusing on that stress makes me feel like all my other worries and stresses are melting away.”</p>
<p>Jisung supposes that does make sense, in a somewhat convoluted kind of way, but before she can say so, Mina continues.</p>
<p>"It's like horror movies!"</p>
<p>Jisung squints at her. "It…is?"</p>
<p>She's not quite sure if she can follow the logic there (scratch that, she definitely can't), but Mina doesn't elaborate, instead eyeing Jisung for a second before she says, “You don’t really seem like a horror movie type of person, though.”</p>
<p>That has Jisung huffing out a laugh despite herself. “Yeah, I’m really not.”</p>
<p>“Thought so,” Mina says, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips.</p>
<p>The conversation flows a lot easier from there on, and as it turns out, Mina makes for surprisingly pleasant company, even if Jisung struggles to keep up with her non sequiturs and abrupt changes of topics. Mina doesn't seem to mind — or even notice — Jisung's wariness, and once they find some common ground in a drama they’ve both been watching, Jisung herself becomes a lot more relaxed and responsive.</p>
<p>It’s a bit strange, because it usually takes her a good while to get comfortable with people she doesn't know, but over the course of their meal some of the tension leaks out of Jisung's shoulders, and she's letting her guard down without even noticing.</p>
<p>Mina leans back in her seat once she finishes the last of her spicy noodles, still a bit flushed from the heat of it.</p>
<p>She really is unfairly pretty, Jisung once again can't help but notice, but she's distracted from that particular line of thought when Mina asks, "You're a production intern, right?"</p>
<p>Jisung blinks in surprise. How does Mina know that? Did Chan tell her?</p>
<p>“Yeah, I am,” she says, and she still feels a little thrill when she thinks about it, that she actually gets to take this first step towards her dream. She smiles, giddy with the excitement of it. “Honestly, getting into this program was kind of a long shot,” she admits. “It’s a very competitive environment, and they only take a small number of people each year. I never thought I’d get accepted.”</p>
<p>Mina raises an eyebrow, and Jisung thinks she might be impressed, just a bit. “Oh? Congratulations on making the cut, in that case. Did you apply elsewhere as well?”</p>
<p>“I did, but this place was always my number one pick,” Jisung says, and she doesn’t even wait for Mina to prompt her to explain: “The whole company has a really good reputation in general, but aside from the pay and everything there’s a whole bunch of well-known female producers and song-writers that had their start here. Well, in the grand scheme of things there’s still not that many of them, but at least more than elsewhere, you know? So I thought it might be a good fit."</p>
<p>"Yeah," Mina agrees with a small nod. "I get that. It's not easy in this industry."</p>
<p>Something about her voice makes Jisung think that she isn't just saying that. She really does get it.</p>
<p>Jisung is a bit taken aback by the warm feeling that bubbles up inside her chest just then. Chan and Changbin are always there for her when she's struggling, and she loves them dearly, but sometimes she feels like they will never quite get the extra pressure she is under. Which isn't their fault, of course, but it's somewhat of a relief to feel like someone really understands this part of her.</p>
<p>It also makes her feel strangely vulnerable, however, so she decides that a change of topic is in order.</p>
<p>"Anyway," Jisung says quickly, "How did you come to work here, Mina-ssi?”</p>
<p>Mina looks at her for a long second, then shakes her head. “Call me unnie,” she says, and Jisung doesn’t even bother protesting at this point. If Mina has decided they’re close enough for that, she might as well go for it.</p>
<p>“How did you end up here, unnie?” she repeats.</p>
<p>Mina nibbles on a left-over piece of pickled radish as she contemplates the question, and then she shrugs. “Connections, mostly. You don’t get far without them in this business. I was actually a back-up dancer until early last year, but then a former sunbae from my crew gave me a heads up that there was a position opening up here in Seoul.”</p>
<p>“A back-up dancer?” Jisung asks, her eyes shining. “So you went on tour and everything?”</p>
<p>Mina’s answering smile lights up her entire face. “I did, for a couple different artists. And then I did some music show promotions here and there, you know, idol stuff.”</p>
<p>“That’s so cool,” Jisung blurts out, and she genuinely means it. “Don’t you miss it?”</p>
<p>The moment the words are out of her mouth she worries she’s overstepped, but Mina just hums and tilts her head in thought. “Sometimes I do,” she says. “But I like my work here, and my students, and the stability of it. Besides, the pay is a lot better.”</p>
<p>Jisung gets that. She can’t deny that a small part of her still clings onto grand dreams of releasing her own music and touring the world, but a more settled, behind the scenes approach to the industry has its own appeals.</p>
<p>As if reading her mind, Mina shifts the conversation back to Jisung.</p>
<p>“How did you get into making music?” she asks, propping her chin up on her hand, elbows on the table.</p>
<p>It’s a question Jisung gets a lot, so you’d think she’d have a set answer by now, but she never quite knows what to say.</p>
<p>"I mean, I always liked music," she starts, and she can't help but smile, a bit sheepish. "My Mom says I was constantly making up weird little songs as a kid, and I guess I never quite grew out of the habit. I was mostly writing lyrics, y'know, typical teenage angst and stuff, but then my cousin got into music production."</p>
<p>The memory is a fond one. She'd always looked up to Brianna, even when they were living in different countries and barely saw each other, but when she learned that her cousin was going to study music at university, it was like Jisung's eyes had been opened to a whole new world of opportunities.</p>
<p>"She actually works here too, maybe you've seen her around? But anyway, I never seriously considered going into music before she made me realize that it was an actual career path I could choose. And it made it a lot easier to convince my parents to let me do the same, that's for sure."</p>
<p>"I bet," Mina says, voice soft. She hasn't looked away from Jisung even once, and the constant attention is honestly a bit nerve-wracking. "And do you sing, as well?"</p>
<p>"Ah, sometimes. But mostly I rap," Jisung says, and then she grins at the surprised look on Mina's face. "Didn't see that coming, huh?"</p>
<p>"No," Mina admits easily, "but that's amazing."</p>
<p>The praise and Mina's straightforward way of giving it catch Jisung off guard, and she flushes, waving her hands as she hurries to lower Mina's expectations.</p>
<p>"It's nothing special, really. Me and Channie-hyung and Changbinnie-hyung, we met at university and started making some songs together. We, uh. We've had a couple gigs here and there, though," she can't help but add, because she's actually really proud of that.</p>
<p>There's a mischievous glint in Mina's eyes as she leans forward. "Oh? Do you have a stage name?"</p>
<p>Jisung laughs nervously and avoids her gaze, looking down at the remainders of her lunch instead. "Uh, yeah. It's J.One." she says, pushing the by now cold noodles around with her chopsticks.</p>
<p>She doesn't know why she's being so ridiculous. She likes her pseudonym a lot, even if she chose it on a whim.</p>
<p>"Channie-hyung is CB97 and Changbinnie-hyung is SpearB. The three of us together are 3RACHA. Y'know," she says, glancing up at Mina, "Like Sriracha? The hot sauce?"</p>
<p>It takes her a second, but then Mina grins when she gets it.</p>
<p>"Oooh, I see," she draws out, voice teasing, and Jisung snorts in response.</p>
<p>"Yeah, yeah, make fun of it all you want," she says, shoving the last bite of noodles into her mouth, only to freeze mid-chew when Mina says, "Well, as we have established, I do like spicy things."</p>
<p>Jisung blinks at her, eyes wide and cheeks stuffed, and Mina's smirk grows positively demonic as she leans even further across the table.</p>
<p>And then, to Jisung's utter mortification, Mina pokes her cheek.</p>
<p>"Cute," she says, and before Jisung can even react, she pushes her chair back and picks up her tray.</p>
<p>"Thanks for the company, Jisung-ah. I'll see you around."</p>
<p>Jisung, mouth full of japchae, can only stare after her.</p>
<p>What the hell was that?</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Wait, wait, hold up," Hyunjin says, squinting at her. "Which one's Mina again?"</p>
<p>"Ugh, you don't get it," Jisung says, annoyed. How many times is she going to have to explain this to him, god. "There's two Minas. Ballerina Mina, who I'm sure is a lovely person who has never done anything wrong in her entire life, and Evil Sexy Dance Mina, the bane of my existence."</p>
<p>She shudders as she says it, but Hyunjin continues to look both unimpressed and vaguely confused.</p>
<p>"Literally nothing you've told me about her explains why you think she's evil. Are you just mad she's hot? Is that it?" Hyunjin says, and then he smirks. "It's always the same with you. I knew you only hated me because I'm beautiful."</p>
<p>Jisung makes a retching noise to make sure he understands just how grossly wrong he is. Sure, she can admit that, objectively, he's, like, pretty good in the face, if you're into that sort of thing, but that doesn't have anything to do with how she absolutely despised him for the first six months of their acquaintance — a feeling that was incredibly mutual.</p>
<p>"I hated you for your terrible personality, thank you very much," she says.</p>
<p>Hyunjin cups his cheeks and flutters his eyelashes at her. "You're a terrible dancer," he says, rehashing a very old argument, and, like clockwork, Jisung replies with, "Yeah well, you can't rap for shit."</p>
<p>With that out of the way, Hyunjin rearranges his legs to lay more comfortably across her lap, and Jisung offers him some of her Pringles.</p>
<p>They're at the riverbank, soaking up some late-afternoon sunlight, and the more it warms her body, the more Jisung feels like the stress of her work week is melting out of her. Usually her weekends consist mostly of lying around at home and not moving unless absolutely necessary, but this is pretty nice, too.</p>
<p>They munch on their chips in silence for another moment before Hyunjin speaks up again.</p>
<p>“Seriously though, what is it about her that has you so riled up?”</p>
<p>Jisung opens her mouth, ready to explain, but then she hesitates. It’s a good question, really, because while Jisung can and has ranted about Mina at length, it's difficult to put a finger on what exactly she's done to deserve Jisung's ire.</p>
<p>They've run into each other a handful of times since their chance meeting in the cafeteria, and Mina somehow manages to leave her wrong-footed and flustered after each chance encounter.</p>
<p>It's not like she's mean, or anything. She's just…overly familiar, and kind of nonsensical, and all together very confusing, not to mention that—</p>
<p>"She keeps poking my cheeks," Jisung blurts out, which is not what she meant to say at all.</p>
<p>Hyunjin freezes with a chip halfway into his mouth. "She what?" he asks, and Jisung grits her teeth together, embarrassed despite herself.</p>
<p>"Look, I don't know!" she says defensively. "It doesn't matter. Something about her just makes me want to, like, duel her. Throw down a fucking gauntlet. Full on sword on sword action."</p>
<p>Hyunjin almost chokes on Pringles dust, coughing roughly while Jisung watches him suffer.</p>
<p>"Please never say that again," he says weakly, wiping his mouth. "Also, what the fuck? A duel?"</p>
<p>"I dunno, I could be a sword lesbian," Jisung says, liking the sound of it.</p>
<p>"You're not a sword lesbian," Hyunjin scoffs. "At the very most you're a pocket knife lesbian. But like, one of those really tiny, cheap knock-off swiss army knife things you get as a promotional gift."</p>
<p>"I am going to stab you with my multi-tool," Jisung hisses, wondering once again why she's friends with this asshole.</p>
<p>(Actually, it's because he's dating Changbin's boyfriend, Changbin's boyfriend's girlfriend, and Changbin's boyfriend's girlfriend's partner, in addition to maybe dating Changbin himself — Jisung doesn't pretend to understand that particular pentagon of a relationship. All she knows is that any friend of Changbin's is a friend of hers, and, initial interpersonal conflicts aside, she would lay down her life for all of them.)</p>
<p>Jisung lets out a long sigh, stretching her arms. “You’re absolutely no help, you know that?”</p>
<p>“What, did you actually call me out here for advice?” Hyunjin says, suspicious as he should be. If Jisung wanted advice she’d suck it up and tell Chan and Changbin about all this, or at least Felix, who, out of all her friends, is the least likely to make fun of her.</p>
<p>“Hell no, I just wanted to see your dog,” Jisung says, leaning over to pick up Kkami from where he’s lying in the grass, letting him lick her face as she coos at him. “Who’s a good boy? Who’s the bestest doggo in the world? You are!”</p>
<p>“Unhand my son at once,” Hyunjin says, but he doesn’t actually make her put Kkami down, instead changing the topic to tell her all about the time his precious Jinyoung-sunbaenim gave the entire marketing department an epic dressing down and saved a project for their biggest client all by herself.</p>
<p>It's at least the fifth time Jisung has heard this particular story, but she figures that, if Hyunjin is willing to indulge her whining, she can do the same for him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>---</p>
<p>jisung: hey</p>
<p> </p>
<p>hyunjin: hey what’s up</p>
<p> </p>
<p>jisung: long day</p>
<p> </p>
<p>hyunjin: got you</p>
<p>hyunjin: one picture of kkami, coming right up</p>
<p>hyunjin: [image attached]</p>
<p> </p>
<p>jisung: thanks bro</p>
<p> </p>
<p>hyunjin: np</p>
<p>---</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Jisung wonders, sometimes, how she would get through life without coffee. It's really not good for her budget, but she ends up stopping by the coffee shop down the street from the office most mornings, following the siren call of her beloved Americano.</p>
<p>The line is long this morning and she's even more tired than usual because inspiration struck at 1 AM and she stayed up way too late writing lyrics, so she's close to dozing off where she stands, completely oblivious to her surroundings. Still, she gives a weak attempt of a smile to the cashier once it's finally her turn, because the girl behind the counter looks about as tired as she feels.</p>
<p>"Hi, one Americano please," she says, and then almost jumps out of her skin when someone says, "Make that two," from right next to her ear.</p>
<p>Her heart rate skyrockets, and when she whirls around she bumps right into the person standing way too close to her, and of course. Who else would it be but Evil Sexy Dance Mina.</p>
<p>"Unnie!" she squeaks, her early-morning voice cracking embarrassingly.</p>
<p>Evil Mina looks beautiful and well-rested as always, which is honestly unfair, and Jisung is so distracted by her perfect side profile that she doesn't even notice that Mina is paying until she's already handed her card over to the girl behind the counter.</p>
<p>"Wait, what?" Jisung says, and it takes her a moment to work out that Mina is paying for both of them. "Wait, I can pay for myself!"</p>
<p>"Too late," Mina says as she takes her card back from the cashier, who doesn't even bat an eye at their antics. And then Mina has one arm around Jisung's shoulders and is dragging her off to the side before Jisung can even think to protest again. "Come on, you're holding up the line."</p>
<p>Jisung sputters in indignation but can't quite seem to make actual words happen, because the sudden physical contact is honestly kind of overwhelming. Oh god. Her face feels really hot. Is she blushing? She probably is, isn't she.</p>
<p>Thankfully, Mina lets her go then, and Jisung takes a hasty step back to put some distance between them.</p>
<p>"What was that for?"</p>
<p>Mina raises an eyebrow at her, lips curled into another one of those infuriating smirks that have started to haunt Jisung’s dreams. “Here I am, graciously treating you to a drink, and not even a word of thanks? Jisung-ah, you wound me.”</p>
<p>“I...didn’t ask you to?” Jisung says, beyond confused. It’s not the best comeback, but it’s early, and she’s tired, and oh, there’s her Americano.</p>
<p>Minho picks up their cups from the counter before Jisung can even think to move, and then she holds one of them out to Jisung. “You look like you need this. Drink, before you turn into a zombie.”</p>
<p>“Thanks?” Jisung says on instinct, accepting the cup, and then, “Wait, that’s not how zombies work.”</p>
<p>“Isn’t it?” Mina challenges, and Jisung is so perplexed by that answer that she doesn’t even register that Mina is walking away until she’s already half out of the door and onto the street.</p>
<p>“Unnie, wait!” Jisung says, scrambling to catch up to her. “Let me pay you back!”</p>
<p>“Mmh, I don’t think so,” Mina says, strolling leisurely and taking a sip of her coffee.</p>
<p>"But…" Jisung says, trailing off weakly. She doesn't even have it in her to argue anymore. Sleep deprivation and early mornings are a terrible combination. So she just sighs and hurries to fall into step next to Mina, sipping on her too hot coffee.</p>
<p>"Thank you," she mutters eventually. "You didn't have to."</p>
<p>The walk to the office isn't a long one, so they're stepping through the big glass doors before she knows it, and Mina is already digging through her purse for her access badge.</p>
<p>"I wanted to," she says blithely, making a pleased noise when she finally has her badge in hand. Casually rearranging her purse on her shoulder despite having her hands full, she turns a charming smile on Jisung at last.</p>
<p>"Don't worry about it, Jisungie. Just let unnie take care of you, yeah?"</p>
<p>With that, she turns on her heels and walks away, completely oblivious to how Jisung goes stock-still behind her.</p>
<p>"Yo, Lee Know, what's good," the receptionist calls out from behind his desk, and Mina waves at him as she passes through the employee gate, leaving Jisung gaping after her.</p>
<p>Jisung's still busy trying to recover from the way her brain just came to a screeching halt at Mina's words, so preoccupied with trying to process…whatever that was that she almost drops her coffee, but she catches herself just in time.</p>
<p>"What the hell," she mutters under her breath, clutching the cup with both hands and trying to ignore the way her heart is pounding in her chest.</p>
<p>It's only once she shakes herself out of her stupor that her eyes fall on the reception desk, or more specifically, the person sitting behind it.</p>
<p>BamBam is this lanky guy with silver hair and the least professional attitude known to man, so Jisung's not super sure how he landed the job of being a receptionist. He's also her university senior and a good friend of Chan's, because of course he is.</p>
<p>And, judging by the way he just greeted her, he's also familiar with Evil Sexy Dance Mina. Interesting.</p>
<p>"Sunbaenim," Jisung says despite her better judgment, sidling up to him. "I was wondering..."</p>
<p>"Hmm?" BamBam says, propping his chin up on his hand. "What can I do for my dearest hoobae?"</p>
<p>Jisung grimaces. She gets the feeling that she's going to end up regretting this, somehow. Still, she wants to know, so she soldiers on.</p>
<p>"Why did you call her that? Lee Know, I mean."</p>
<p>BamBam's grin is sly and altogether way too knowing as he considers her, drawing out the silence to an unbearable degree before he finally says, "Oh, you know, it's just a nickname. I don't know who came up with it, but it's part of her insta name."</p>
<p>Jisung tries not to ask. She tries to keep her mouth shut, she really does, but in the end, it's futile.</p>
<p>"You…know her instagram," she says, her voice a bit strangled, and it's not a question, because it's not like she wants to know what Mina's account name is or anything.</p>
<p>(Dear god she really wants to know what the account name is.)</p>
<p>"Oh my sweet summer child," BamBam says, even though he's barely any older than Jisung, and also her birthday's in September, "Let me show you."</p>
<p>With a flourish, he picks up the phone he's definitely not supposed to have on him while working the front desk, gives the screen a couple of taps, and then holds it out for Jisung to see.</p>
<p>Jisung stares at it.</p>
<p>She stares at it some more.</p>
<p>"Oh," she says at last, clearing her throat and looking away. "Uh, thanks. I guess. Not that I, like, wanted to know or anything."</p>
<p>BamBam has the decency not to laugh at her outright, but the amused look on his face is enough to make Jisung high-tail it out of there, hurrying back into the office at record speeds.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Evil Sexy Dance Mina's Instagram handle is @leeknowiscute. Jisung actually manages to hold out until she's back home that night to type it in, lying on top of the covers on her bed and staring at the ceiling for a good 5 minutes before she breaks.</p>
<p>She's not entirely sure what she expected in the first place, but what she gets is this:</p>
<p>There's dance videos, which makes sense. When Jisung clicks on one of them only to find that it's a dance cover of EXO's The Eve, she barely manages to stop herself from flinging her phone halfway across the room. The only saving grace is the fact that Mina's face is mostly covered by a bucket hat, an inherently unsexy piece of clothing. Jisung isn't sure she would survive watching it otherwise.</p>
<p>There's also a whole bunch of selcas, except the majority of them were taken with some of the more questionable filters that the Snow app has to offer. Jisung actually calms down a bit looking through them because they're just so weird, but then she hits one of the rare unfiltered ones that's just Mina pouting at the camera and starts dying all over again.</p>
<p>Most lethal of all, there's cat pictures. So many cat pictures. Jisung didn't know Mina had cats. Jisung doesn't know how she's going to go on with her life now that she <em>does</em> know Mina has cats, three of them, and all of them adopted from shelters because Mina apparently has a heart for abandoned animals.</p>
<p>"Oh my god," Jisung whispers, devastated, as she stares at a selca Mina took with one of her tabbies. She knew she was going to regret this.</p>
<p>Still, she can't seem to stop scrolling, moving her fingers extra carefully so she doesn't accidentally like any month-old pictures. It's only 20 minutes later that she forces herself to close the app, because this is getting ridiculous. If Mina knew about this she'd make fun of Jisung forever, since she is, as previously established, evil.</p>
<p>With a sigh, Jisung puts aside her phone and picks up one of her many notebooks instead. Maybe working on some lyrics will distract her from thinking about Mina's distressingly perfect face.</p>
<p>It takes all of five minutes before she's picking up her phone again and following @leeknowiscute on instagram, but sometimes you need to pick your battles, and sometimes you just need to accept that you never stood a chance in the first place.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>It's been weeks now and Jisung still hasn't told Chan and Changbin about this…<em>thing</em> that she has going on with Evil Sexy Dance Mina. While the three of them do make an effort to synch their break times and usually see each other at least once a day, it doesn't always work out, so sometimes Jisung will end up heading to the cafeteria by herself, and sometimes Mina will be there and call Jisung over to join her.</p>
<p>Today she went out for lunch with Changbin, however, and they're only just walking back into the office when a sing-song voice calls out behind them.</p>
<p>"Ji-sung-ah!"</p>
<p>Jisung jolts and whirls around, even though she already knows who it is. At her side, Changbin does the same, and he looks confused when he sees Mina strolling towards them. Right, Changbin probably hasn't met her before.</p>
<p>"Unnie!" Jisung says, her traitorous heart beating a bit faster at the sight of her.</p>
<p>Mina takes her time catching up to them, acknowledging Changbin with a polite smile and a nod of her head before she focuses on Jisung.</p>
<p>"Jisung-ah," she drawls, leaning in close. "I didn't see you this morning. Are you okay? No withdrawal symptoms?"</p>
<p>It takes Jisung an embarrassingly long time to get that Mina is talking about coffee.</p>
<p>Ever since the first time they met at the coffee shop, they've kept running into each other in the mornings. Usually Mina is already in line before her, or she'll be halfway down the street to the office before Jisung even gets there, but sometimes she'll wait for Jisung to catch up.</p>
<p>And if Jisung maybe tries to get ready a bit earlier than usual in the mornings so she can make sure they meet, then that's really nobody's business but her own.</p>
<p>"Ah, that," Jisung says, laughing awkwardly. "I was late today, so I skipped it. I should probably cut back anyway, it’s an expensive habit, and too much caffeine is bad for you, right? Either way I can always get some here at the office—”</p>
<p>“The coffee here sucks,” Mina cuts her off easily, and Jisung can feel her eyebrows rising up to her hairline at that bald-faced lie — their CEO is big on quality, all the office coffee machines are stocked with beans so expensive that accounting probably cries themselves to sleep at night — but before Jisung can call her out on it, Mina goes on.</p>
<p>"Be on time tomorrow. Unnie will buy you another Americano."</p>
<p>“Oh,” Jisung says hastily, “No, you really don’t have to, it’s fine, seriously!”</p>
<p>Mina just clicks her tongue and shakes her head in mock reproach.</p>
<p>“None of that. What would I do if you turn into a zombie after all? I can't have that on my conscience, Jisungie."</p>
<p>“That’s...still not how zombies work,” Jisung says, just to be contrary, but when Mina starts pouting in that over-exaggerated way she does when she’s pretending to be upset with her, Jisung raises her hands in defeat.</p>
<p>“Okay, okay,” she hurries to say, if only to make Mina stop talking. “I give. You can buy me a coffee, unnie. But only one, seriously!”</p>
<p>Mina’s expression changes in an instant, and the smug look on her face really shouldn’t be as attractive as it is. Jisung sighs, trying hard to seem exasperated.</p>
<p>She should be used to this by now, the teasing tone and the little smiles Mina throws her way, but something feels different today. She’s uncomfortably aware of Changbin’s presence next to them, and even though she’s refusing to look at him, she can feel the weight of his stare boring into her.</p>
<p>“Good,” Mina says, satisfied. “I’ll hold you to that. See you tomorrow.”</p>
<p>And then, without further ado, she gives them a cheery wave and turns to walk away.</p>
<p>"Bye, unnie," Jisung calls out weakly after her, and then takes a moment to close her eyes and pinch the bridge of her nose. She doesn't know why she even tried to protest, really. She’s finding it more and more difficult to say no to Mina’s whims.</p>
<p>Next to her, Changbin clears his throat.</p>
<p>"So who was that?" he asks, and with a start, Jisung realizes that she completely forgot to introduce Mina to him. Awkward.</p>
<p>“Ah,” she says with a high, shaky laugh, “That was, uh. Lee Mina. She’s a dance instructor?”</p>
<p>Changbin raises an eyebrow. “Is she?”</p>
<p>“Yeah? I mean, yeah, she is,” Jisung says, clearing her throat and deliberately forcing down the tone of her voice so she stops speaking like everything she says is a goddamn question. Changbin is already giving her weird looks, no need to make him even more suspicious.</p>
<p>Not that there is anything to be suspicious of in the first place.</p>
<p>Really. She swears.</p>
<p>“How did you guys meet?” Changbin asks as they fall back into step, heading towards the recording studios.</p>
<p>“Channie-hyung,” Jisung says, which should be explanation enough for Changbin.</p>
<p>“Of course,” he says, and for a blissful moment Jisung thinks that’s it.</p>
<p>They stop in front of the elevators and Jisung pulls out her phone while they wait for one to come down, idly going through her notifications. Felix is still sending her crying cat stickers because she said no when he begged her to get him autographs from the nation's girl group, who are conveniently signed under the very company they're interning at.</p>
<p>Tough luck, Jisung thinks, rolling her eyes. By some miracle she actually passed two of the members in the hallway outside the studios once, but there's no way she could approach any of them. She's way too star-struck herself.</p>
<p><em>sucks to be u</em>, she replies, or at least she tries to, because Changbin chooses that exact moment to say, "So, you like her?"</p>
<p>Jisung stares down at the gibberish she just typed out, and then she turns her head to stare at Changbin instead. The elevator dings as it arrives on their floor, and the sound echoes in her head.</p>
<p>"What," she says faintly.</p>
<p>Changbin snorts and pushes her into the elevator before the doors can close again.</p>
<p>"That dance instructor," he says, calm as can be, as he pushes the button for their stop. "You like her."</p>
<p>The swooping feeling in Jisung's stomach is probably just from the movement of the elevator, right? Right.</p>
<p>"What?" she says again, much louder this time. "I— What? Hyung, what the hell gave you that idea?"</p>
<p>She forces a laugh, the sound ringing off the metal walls, and glances a bit desperately at the slowly climbing numbers of floors.</p>
<p>Changbin is definitely smirking now. "You think I can't tell if someone is flirting right in front of me?"</p>
<p>"Flirting?!" Jisung sputters, incredulous. "That wasn't <em>flirting</em>, that was just…a completely normal conversation!"</p>
<p>"Uh-huh," Changbin says, unconvinced.</p>
<p>"Hyung, I'm serious! I don't like her!" Jisung says, and then backtracks immediately. "I mean, I don't <em>not</em> like her, she's cool! And kinda weird, but she's nice! We just…sometimes we get lunch together and coffee and stuff, and okay, she treated me that one time, but that's just—"</p>
<p>Internally, Jisung screams at herself to shut the fuck up, because Changbin is looking more and more smug the longer she rambles on.</p>
<p>"Well shit," he says, mustering her. "You're in deep, aren't you?"</p>
<p>Jisung flushes, but before she can protest, the elevator dings as the doors slide open, and Changbin saunters out without a care in the world.</p>
<p>"I'm not!" she insists as she stumbles out into the hallway after him, but Changbin just laughs as he throws her a look over his shoulder.</p>
<p>"Sure thing, Sungie. I'll keep that in mind the next time I see you 'not flirting' with her."</p>
<p>"Hyung!" Jisung yells after him, to no avail, and then she makes a noise of frustration and diggs her phone back out of her pocket, fuming as she texts Felix. Maybe he can be bribed into helping her get revenge on Changbin if she can get him those autographs after all.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Changbin’s delusions aside, Jisung does enjoy Mina’s company. She never expected to make any friends during her internship, and yet she’s pretty sure that’s what she and Mina are. Friends.</p>
<p>Granted, their friendship comes with an expiration date, because Jisung's internship is rapidly approaching its end.</p>
<p>It's strange to think how quickly time has passed. Soon she'll be back on campus, and while she's looking forward to that, part of her also thinks she's going to miss the office and working with the people she's gotten to know over the past weeks. She's definitely going to miss Mina.</p>
<p>Jisung has gotten into the habit of stopping by the dance studios when she knows Mina's class is over, using the afternoon lull and Choi-PD-nim's smoke breaks to sneak away for a break herself. It's nice to get away from her desk and stretch her legs for a bit, or at least that's the excuse she gives herself.</p>
<p>"Mina-unnie?" Jisung calls out as she walks into the usual practice room on one such occasion, surprised to find it almost empty.</p>
<p>There's just a bunch of kids packing up their bags and heading out, greeting Jisung cheerfully as they pass her on the way to the door. Only one of them stops to speak to her.</p>
<p>"Instructor Myoui isn't in today, I think," she says. It's this one girl that looks weirdly like Hyunjin, which just makes Jisung instantly suspicious of her, even though she's probably a lovely person who doesn't deserve that kind of association.</p>
<p>"Ah, no," Jisung says, distracted once again by thoughts of successful human cloning, or the possibility that Hyunjin has a sister that he never told them about. Maybe they were separated at birth and don't even know they're related — now there's a drama plot if Jisung's ever seen one. Maybe she should switch careers and become a screenwriter after all. "No, not that one, I was looking for Evil Sexy Dance Mina."</p>
<p>Once the words are out of her mouth, it takes her an embarrassingly long moment to realize why Mini-Hyunjin is giving her such a weird look. Then Jisung's face goes hot, and she closes her eyes, pained by her own idiocy. God, why does she never think before she speaks?</p>
<p>"Ah, sorry, ignore that—" she starts to say, only to be interrupted by a loud voice from behind her.</p>
<p>"You're looking for who now?"</p>
<p>No. No, no, no. This absolutely cannot be happening. Jisung feels her heart sinking into her stomach, and Mini-Hyunjin is looking at her in wide-eyed alarm, an expression Jisung is sure she is mirroring on her own face. For a second Jisung feels a strange kinship with the kid.</p>
<p>It is of course immediately ruined when Mini-Hyunjin mumbles something unintelligible, bows, and runs past Jisung without a second glance, effectively abandoning her to the clutches of…well. The exact person she came here looking for.</p>
<p>"Unnie!" Jisung squeaks, turning around slowly. "I was just. I mean."</p>
<p>She trails off awkwardly when she sees Mina sauntering over to her. There's a glint in her stupidly pretty eyes and a smirk on her stupidly gorgeous lips, and Jisung is feeling kind of faint now.</p>
<p>"You…" Mina says slowly, as she comes to a stop in front of Jisung, leaning in close. "Did you just call me sexy?"</p>
<p>In an instant, all blood drains from Jisung's face.</p>
<p>"What?" she croaks out, and she can't even think right now from how hard she's panicking. "No, I didn't! Haha. I have to go now! A good day to you!"</p>
<p>And with that, she turns on her heels and gets the hell out of dodge, not even waiting until she's out of the room to break into a run.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>---</p>
<p>hot sauce (3)</p>
<p> </p>
<p>j.one: GUYS</p>
<p>j.one: SOS</p>
<p>j.one: I FUCKING FUCKED UP</p>
<p>j.one: GUYS????????</p>
<p>j.one: UGH I CAN'T BELIEVE UR BEING RESPONSIBLE MEMBERS OF SOCIETY IN MY TIME OF NEED</p>
<p>---</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Unnie!" Jisung cries as she falls into Brianna's studio, not even bothering to knock first. The door was open, so it's not like she's going to interrupt any recording. "This is the worst thing that's ever happened to me in my entire life!"</p>
<p>She throws herself dramatically onto one of the armchairs that's pushed into the corner closest to Brianna's desk, one arm over her forehead like a swooning maiden.</p>
<p>She only glances out from underneath it long enough to see Brianna's long-suffering expression and absolute lack of concern.</p>
<p>"Jisung-ah," she starts, but Jisung doesn't let her finish.</p>
<p>"I should have never taken this internship to begin with! Then I never would have met Evil Sexy Dance Mina, and could've just continued living my life in peace," she wails. 'Who needs a job or connections anyway, right? I can just become a hermit or a nun or something, and then I'll never have to deal with hot girls ever again."</p>
<p>"Uh," someone else says, very awkwardly, and that's when Jisung remembers two things.</p>
<ol>
<li>Despite the fact that Brianna has only ever been alone in the studio when Jisung has stopped by to bother her, there is actually another person working here.</li>
<li>That person is none other than soundcloud legend Defsoul, purveyor of highly sensual sex jams and Jisung's personal role model.</li>
</ol>
<p>Jisung shoots upright, eyes wide in alarm, and sure enough — there's a woman at the other desk, headphones around her neck, a beanie shoved over short dark hair, looking a bit shell-shocked.</p>
<p>"Oh my god," Jisung whispers, mortified, as she can hear her cousin trying to stifle her laughter somewhere out of her line of sight. "Defsoul-ssi— nim— sunbaenim?" she stutters out, desperately wishing she could just evaporate into thin air. "I am so sorry, I didn't— I mean— Hi, I’m a really big fan?"</p>
<p>“Ah,” Defsoul says. “Thank you?”</p>
<p>Brianna takes pity on them then, scooting her chair away from her desk and swiveling around to gesture between them.</p>
<p>“Jisung-ah, this is my co-worker, JB. JB, this is my cousin Jisung.”</p>
<p>Something like recognition crosses Defsoul— no, <em>JB’s</em> face. “Oh, the intern?”</p>
<p>“Yes,” Jisung says quickly, choosing not to focus on the fact that Brianna apparently told JB about her, but still didn’t introduce them earlier. “It’s so nice to meet you.”</p>
<p>“Likewise,” JB says, disentangling herself from her headphones so she can turn around properly, and Jisung is soaring, she is hyped, she is <em>so</em> ready to have a great, minimally awkward conversation with a person she admires, only for her cousin to send her crashing back down to earth by asking, “So what was that about Mina?”</p>
<p>Jisung freezes, reminded of her humiliation, and her eyes shift between Brianna, who is clearly waiting for an explanation, and JB, who seems to recognize the signs of discomfort on Jisung's face.</p>
<p>"Ah," JB says, scratching her neck. "Don't mind me. Anything you say stays in this room, I promise."</p>
<p>She mimes zipping her mouth shut in a way that honestly looks kind of ridiculous, but Jisung still feels incredibly touched by JB’s thoughtfulness. Or maybe that's just her being star-struck.</p>
<p>"How do you even know her?" Brianna presses on, clearly making no promises about secrecy, and Jisung knows Jae will hear about this the moment she leaves the room. Still, she already started spilling her guts, so she might as well finish it.</p>
<p>"We got introduced a while back and I think we sorta got to be friends? Even though she's low-key scary, so I'm really not sure how that happened. But yeah, I see her around the office sometimes and it's cool, but today I… " she stops herself then, because she doesn't really want to admit to her fuck-up in front of this really cool person and also her cousin.</p>
<p>"I mean, it's not like, the end of the world," she hedges, even though it obviously is. "But basically I really embarrassed myself in front of her and now if I see her again she's going to make fun of me for it <em>forever</em>."</p>
<p>"Myoui Mina?" JB asks, frowning. "That doesn't really sound like her."</p>
<p>"No, no, not Ballerina Mina," Jisung says, shaking her head. "The other one."</p>
<p>There's a brief silence as JB and Brianna exchange a confused look, and then Brianna says, "Jisung-ah, what are you talking about? There's only one dance instructor called Mina."</p>
<p>Jisung stares at her cousin for a long, long moment, mind blank.</p>
<p>“What,” she says eventually, her voice cracking.</p>
<p>"Aside from Myoui Mina, there's no one else in the dance department with that name," Brianna repeats slowly.</p>
<p>"But," Jisung starts, her stomach sinking. "Then who is— Hold on, let me just—"</p>
<p>She frantically searches her pockets for her phone, and it takes her three tries to unlock it before she can finally open instagram, pulling up the @leeknowiscute account and tapping on a random selca before she shoves the screen in Brianna's face.</p>
<p>"Here!" she says, a bit desperate. "That's Lee Mina, right?"</p>
<p>Brianna stares at the screen for what feels like an eternity before she takes Jisung's phone in hand and shows it to JB. Then there's another moment of silence before JB clears her throat, throwing an uncertain look in Jisung's direction.</p>
<p>"Ah," she says. "That's, uh. That's Lee Minseo."</p>
<p>Jisung blinks.</p>
<p>“So you’re telling me,” she says, very calmly, “That I’ve been calling her by the wrong name for over two months now?”</p>
<p>“Oh, Jisung,” Brianna sighs and then Jisung has to bury her face in the plush fabric of the armchair out of sheer embarrassment and also to scream a little.</p>
<p>“Is she okay?” she hears JB whisper above her, and Brianna sighs some more.</p>
<p>“She’ll be fine. Just leave her be.”</p>
<p>Someone pats her head very gently, and for a second Jisung lets herself wallow in her own mortification, but then she makes herself count to 15 before she takes a deep breath and shoots up and off her seat, bowing to an extremely startled JB.</p>
<p>“It was nice to meet you!” Jisung says stiffly. “Please forget this ever happened.”</p>
<p>“Sure?” JB says, and Jisung bows again in thanks, avoiding eye contact in an effort to retain at least some of her dignity, and turns around to walk out of the room without another word.</p>
<p>She stops with one foot through the door however, hesitating, and then she turns back with a sheepish smile on her face.</p>
<p>"Actually," she says. "Could I get your autograph?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>---</p>
<p>hot sauce (3)</p>
<p> </p>
<p>j.one: HYUNG I’M GOING TO KILL YOU</p>
<p>j.one: [knife emoji]</p>
<p>j.one: [knife emoji]</p>
<p>j.one: [knife emoji]</p>
<p> </p>
<p>spearB: wait which one of us</p>
<p> </p>
<p>j.one: now you answer me?????????</p>
<p>j.one: and obviously it’s channie-hyung</p>
<p> </p>
<p>spearB: ok cool</p>
<p>spearB: carry on</p>
<p>---</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Jisung ends up telling Chan and Changbin everything after all, because spilling her every thought to them is just how she deals with things. They don’t even laugh at her, though she’s sure that will come later. For now, the second-hand embarrassment is stronger than their need to make fun of her.</p>
<p>“Oh god,” Changbin groans, letting his head drop to the table with a loud thump. A group of trainees walking past them jump at the noise, giving them weird looks. “What are you gonna do now?”</p>
<p>“Fake my death and assume a new identity,” Jisung says, clutching onto the cup of soothing herbal tea Chan had bought her like it’s a lifeline. “Move back to Malaysia and become an outlaw.”</p>
<p>“Not an option,” Chan says sternly, as if he’s worried she might actually do it. “You can’t be part of 3RACHA if you’re dead and/or an outlaw.”</p>
<p>“Hire a hitman,” Changbin suggests grimly, and that worries Chan even more.</p>
<p>“No!” he says, pointing a finger at Changbin. “No murder!”</p>
<p>“But hyung,” Jisung and Changbin whine at the exact same time, and Chan sighs, massaging his temples.</p>
<p>“If you had actually listened to me when I introduced you none of this would have happened,” he says, and Jisung kicks his shin in retaliation.</p>
<p>“I was blinded by their combined visuals!” she wails. “How do you expect me to actually process auditory information at that moment? And you called them Mina-ssi and Mina-ssi!”</p>
<p>“It’s an inside joke,” Chan says for what must be at least the tenth time, throwing his hands up. “Other people in the dance department call them that because they look so similar.”</p>
<p>“How was I supposed to know that,” Jisung mutters, sinking back into her seat.</p>
<p>“Look, why don’t you just talk to her and—” Chan starts, but Jisung shuts him down immediately.</p>
<p>“No!” she says, appalled at the very idea. “Absolutely not. Other suggestions?”</p>
<p>“Men In Black style memory erasure?” Chan says, at the same time as Changbin repeats, “No seriously, a hitman.”</p>
<p>They share a sheepish look as Jisung groans in frustration. She should have known this wouldn’t be any use. There’s a reason Seungmin always says the three of them only have one brain cell between them.</p>
<p>
  <span>True to form, Changbin’s thoughts seem to have gone in the same direction as hers. </span>
</p>
<p>“Alright," he says. "Let's try to approach this like a reasonable person would. Like, what would Seungminnie do in this situation?” </p>
<p>There’s a moment of silence around the table as they all think on it, only for Jisung to collapse into a heap of misery, almost knocking over her tea in the process. “She’d tell me to suck it up and talk to her, wouldn’t she.” she says, muffled from where she’s buried her head in her arms.</p>
<p>“Definitely,” Chan affirms, and Changbin pats her shoulder comfortingly.</p>
<p>Jisung allows herself another moment of wallowing before she pushes herself up abruptly.</p>
<p>“Okay!” she says. “Okay. I’ve made up my mind.”</p>
<p>Chan perks up, looking cautiously optimistic. “Really? You’re gonna go talk to her?”</p>
<p>“Hell no,” Jisung says, shuddering at the thought of it. “So I called her an embarrassing nickname to her face. What is there to explain? We’re here for what, two more weeks? And then I’m never seeing her again. There’s no need to make a big deal out of this.”</p>
<p>She’s quite pleased with her reasoning, but Chan looks disappointed, and Changbin looks pensive.</p>
<p>“Aren’t you, like, in love with her?” he asks carefully, and Jisung sputters, her face growing hot.</p>
<p>“Am not,” she objects, looking anywhere but at her friends. “And I have no clue where you even got that idea.”</p>
<p>It’s a preposterous thought, and Jisung can’t believe Changbin would bring it up. Sure, maybe they’d been flirting a bit, once Jisung got over being quite so terrified, and maybe Evil Mina— <em>Minseo</em> is really pretty and cool and an amazing dancer, but it’s not like it was going anywhere, right? She’s way out of Jisung’s league, anyway.</p>
<p>“If you say so,” Changbin mumbles, clearly not believing a word she says but merciful enough not to argue about it. “Still, what are you gonna do when you see her?”</p>
<p>“I won’t,” Jisung says, determined. “All I have to do is not go down to the practice rooms, right? This is a big company, it’ll be fine.”</p>
<p>Chan and Changbin remain unconvinced, but it’s fine. It’s totally fine. There’s only two more weeks, and Jisung is just going to do her absolute best to avoid Lee Minseo. Should be easy enough, right?</p>
<p>Wrong.</p>
<p>Before The Incident, Jisung had occasionally wondered why they ran into each other so often but dismissed it as coincidence. Now, she’s not so sure about that anymore.</p>
<p>No matter where she goes, Minseo is just always<em> there</em>. Jisung will step out of the recording studios for one second to grab something from the vending machines and spot her coming up the stairs, or she’ll run an errand for one of the producers only to end up literally running out of the building to avoid crossing paths with Minseo.</p>
<p>She even skips going to the cafeteria in favour of picking up lunch from the convenience store down the street, and then she ends up eating ramyeon for days instead of the amazing food she could be enjoying if she wasn’t such a massive coward. She could cry at the sheer thought of all the organic ice cream she’s missing out on.</p>
<p>The way Minseo goes from looking amused to concerned to more and more dejected with every time Jisung sprints away from her really doesn’t help matters. It's almost enough to make her reconsider.</p>
<p>But it’s okay. Minseo is a pipe dream anyway, and if Jisung just pushes back against the guilt and her wishful thinking and the might-have-beens, it’ll be fine.</p>
<p>She’ll be okay.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>In the end, Jisung only lasts one week. She’d like to think she could’ve made it all the way if it wasn’t for Mina — the real deal, Ballerina Mina, who lures her in with her kind smile and a seemingly sincere request for help, only to abandon her to the mercy of her coworker. Her very, very pissed coworker.</p>
<p>“Han Jisung,” Minseo says, stepping into the practice room with the air of a woman scorned, and Jisung is so startled by her sudden appearance that she falls on her ass, upending the box of equipment she’d just been about to pick up in the process.</p>
<p>“I— What?” she yelps, scrambling to get back up. She looks around in a panic, scanning the room for an exit route, but Minseo is blocking the door.</p>
<p>Mina easily picks up the box herself and gives Jisung another kind look. “Thank you, I can take it from here,” she says sweetly, and turns to leave.</p>
<p>“Mina-ssi!” Jisung gasps, utterly betrayed. “How could you?”</p>
<p>Mina just waves at her before she steps out of the room, leaving Jisung absolutely flabbergasted. Granted, they’ve spoken all of two times in the months of Jisung’s internship, but she can’t believe she misjudged Ballerina Mina this badly.</p>
<p>There’s more pressing matters to attend to at the moment, however. Namely, Minseo, who’s staring Jisung down with her hands at her hips and a frown on her face.</p>
<p>“Uh, hi unnie,” Jisung says weakly, because she can’t stand the silence. “What a surprise to see you here?”</p>
<p>Minseo ignores her half-hearted pleasantries and gets straight to the point. “You’ve been avoiding me,” she says, and Jisung winces.</p>
<p>“What? No! I’ve just been busy! You know, interning and stuff. That’s what I’m here for, can’t slack off if I want to get a recommendation—” she breaks off with an embarrassing meeping sound when Minseo glares at her, shrinking back a bit. It’s not like Minseo is physically intimidating (though she is a bit taller than Jisung and has all those nice, lean muscles from dancing, something Jisung probably shouldn’t get distracted by right now), but the look in her eyes is stormy.</p>
<p>It doesn’t last long, however. Minseo heaves a deep sigh and runs a hand over her face, and it looks like her whole body is deflating.</p>
<p>“Look,” she says, and Jisung feels a pang at how tired she sounds. “You can leave if you want to, but...Can we talk? Please? I just want to know what I did wrong.”</p>
<p>Jisung stills. “What?” she whispers, but Minseo doesn’t seem to hear. Her mouth twists into a mirthless smile, so unlike her usual, confident expression that it sets off alarm bells in Jisung’s head.</p>
<p>“If I crossed a boundary or made you uncomfortable then I’m truly sorry. I thought we were on the same page here, but clearly I was wrong.”</p>
<p>“Wait, what?” Jisung says again, much louder this time, startling Minseo with the force of it.</p>
<p>“I...want to apologize?” she repeats, more of a question than a statement, but Jisung waves her off.</p>
<p>“Unnie, what are you talking about? You didn’t do anything,” she says, and then they’re both just looking at each other in confusion.</p>
<p>“But,” Minseo says slowly, taking a step closer to Jisung. “You were avoiding me.”</p>
<p>“I was, but—” Jisung breaks off with a frustrated groan, and she’s definitely blushing again. “Look, it’s not your fault, okay? I was just...embarrassed.”</p>
<p>It takes Minseo a moment to follow her line of thought, but then she clearly gets it, fake coughing in a failed attempt at hiding her snort of laughter. “Because of what you called me? Oh, come on. I thought it was funny. Granted, the Mina joke is getting kind of old, but you’re cute, so I’ll forgive you—”</p>
<p>Jisung makes a noise akin to a dying dolphin, sinking down into a crouch to bury her face in her knees. Dear god, but this is excruciating.</p>
<p>“Hey, hey, what’s wrong?” Minseo asks, dropping down to the floor in front of her, and under any other circumstances her obvious concern would be really sweet. Jisung raises her head just enough to peek up at Minseo. Alright then. She might as well just put it all out in the open.</p>
<p>“This is so dumb,” she mutters, pulling at a loose seam on her jeans. “Promise you won’t laugh at me?”</p>
<p>Minseo raises an eyebrow. “I don’t make promises I can’t keep,” she says, and Jisung groans.</p>
<p>“Okay fine!” she blurts out, “I didn’t fucking know it was a joke.”</p>
<p>Minseo blinks, taken aback. “Huh?”</p>
<p>“Look,” Jisung says, beet-red as she drops back to sit on the floor, still hugging her knees to her chest. ”Sometimes your brain just kind of peaces out when you’re supposed to pay attention, right, and that’s how you end up calling people by the wrong name for months without even realizing, I’m sure we’ve all been there, and in my defense you’re just really distracting, like, what the hell, Channie-hyung should’ve at least warned me, nevermind the fact that it’s entirely his fault if you really think about it. And you know what?” she adds, really getting into it now, “It’s not even a good joke! What’s so funny about— Unnie. Unnie, stop laughing, I swear to—”</p>
<p>Minseo effectively cuts her off when she loses her balance and crashes into Jisung, leaning against Jisung’s propped up legs and shaking with suppressed laughter.</p>
<p>“Jisung-ah,” she gets out eventually, wiping actual tears from her eyes, “Have you seriously been avoiding me just because you realized you were calling me by the wrong name?”</p>
<p>“Stop rubbing it in,” Jisung mutters, but she already knows it’s no use. Minseo cackles some more, sitting back so she can look at Jisung properly. She’s grinning, but there’s something like fondness in the tilt of her mouth, in the way her eyes scrunch up, and it has Jisung’s stomach doing somersaults.</p>
<p>"I hope you know that I will lord this over you for the rest of your life," Minseo says, entirely too gleeful for Jisung's liking. "In 10 years I’m still gonna remind you of the time you didn’t know my name for two entire—"</p>
<p>"In 10 years?" Jisung interrupts, because she really can't help herself. "That would— I mean— You think we'll still be in touch in 10 years?"</p>
<p>It's an awkward way to phrase the question she really wants to be asking, and she cringes as soon as the words are out of her mouth. Minseo raises her eyebrows, a simple movement that somehow still manages to convey incredible amounts of judgment.</p>
<p>"Obviously," she scoffs. "After all, you're going to be my girlfriend, right?"</p>
<p>The way she says it, like it's inevitable, has Jisung's heart going into overdrive.</p>
<p>"If you want me to?" she stammers out, and Minseo sighs, reaching out to grab one of Jisung's hands with her own.</p>
<p>"Jisung-ah," she says, interlocking their fingers. "I've been flirting with you for weeks now."</p>
<p>Jisung blinks. "Has anyone ever told you you're not very good at it?" she asks, and then hurries to clarify. "I mean! I was just, y'know. Kinda confused for a while there?"</p>
<p>Minseo sniffs. "I'm great at flirting, how dare you."</p>
<p>She doesn't actually sound offended, but she does reach out to poke Jisung's cheek in retaliation. Jisung just lets it happen because, well. Apparently this is flirting. Who would've thought.</p>
<p>“Sorry?” she offers, not very convincingly, and Minseo hums as she pretends to consider the apology.</p>
<p>"How about this? I'll stop teasing you if you give me a kiss," she says, tapping her cheek, and she's joking, probably, but Jisung surges forward before she can second-guess herself, pressing her lips to soft skin.</p>
<p>When she pulls back, Minseo's eyes are wide, her lips parted, and Jisung feels a strange, giddy sense of accomplishment at having caught her by surprise. It only lasts until Minseo tilts her head and wordlessly points at her other cheek.</p>
<p>Jisung makes a strangled noise at the back of her throat. This woman is going to be the death of her.</p>
<p>"Unnie, we're at work," she protests weakly, and Minseo pouts but doesn't complain, instead reaching for Jisung’s hand again so she can pull her up and off the floor. Jisung stumbles a little bit, but Minseo is there to steady her.</p>
<p>"Fine," Minseo says, "You're off the hook for now."</p>
<p>“Very generous of you,” Jisung says with a breathless little laugh, but Minseo shushes her, because apparently she’s not done talking.</p>
<p>“On two conditions!” she declares, holding up two fingers. “Number one! Let me take you out tonight.” And then, before Jisung can even process the fact that she just got asked on an honest to god date, Minseo adds, “Number two: I think it's time for you to call me by my actual name."</p>
<p>"Huh?" Jisung asks, startled. "What, like, right now?"</p>
<p>Minseo just gives her a <em>look</em> and Jisung flushes, because, yeah, obviously that’s what she meant.</p>
<p>"M-Minseo-unnie," she stutters out, feeling ridiculous.</p>
<p>Minseo eyes her critically.</p>
<p>"Hmmm, that's just kind of boring now, isn't it," she says, tapping her chin in thought before she grins, eyes lit up with amusement. "How about baby? Honey? <em>Jagiya</em>? Darling?"</p>
<p>"Stoooop," Jisung whines, mortified, hiding her face in her hands.</p>
<p>Minseo just laughs, gently tugging at Jisung's arms until she can look into her eyes again.</p>
<p>“Oh, alright,” she says. “You can call me anything you want.”</p>
<p>Jisung's breath catches in her throat. For a moment, all she can do is stare at Minseo, and there’s so many emotions tangled up in her chest that she itches for a notebook or a computer, or a crumpled up receipt for all she cares, because the way Minseo is looking back at her makes her want to write entire discographies of love songs.</p>
<p>Instead she just smiles, slow and giddy and a bit disbelieving, and then she leans in until there’s barely any space left between them and says, “Okay, Mina-ssi.”</p>
<p>And maybe that ends with Minseo chasing her shrieking and laughing out of the practice room, but if you ask Jisung, it was definitely worth it.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>To those of you who have shown this series love in the past, and to those of you reading it for the first time: thank you so much. I hope you enjoyed this instalment. &lt;3 &lt;3 &lt;3</p></blockquote></div></div>
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